


The Library Fine

by Robin Hood (kjack89)



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Established Relationship, Harvard University, Hijinks & Shenanigans, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-10
Updated: 2020-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:42:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23096539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kjack89/pseuds/Robin%20Hood
Summary: Rafael winced. “On second thought, let’s skip the library tour. I want to go to the campus store and buy you your weight in Harvard gear.”But Sonny just frowned, resting his hands on his hips as he looked at Rafael. “Why don’t you want to show me the library?” he asked.Rafael wet his lips, wondering how in the hell he was going to explain this one to his ex-cop boyfriend. “Well, at first I didn’t want to show you because I was being an asshole—”“No shit,” Sonny muttered.“And, perhaps more importantly, I remembered that I may have, um, borrowed a few things from the library.”Sonny stared blankly at him. “It’s a library, Raf, isn’t that what you’re supposed to do in a library?”Rafael cleared his throat. “I mean, I borrowed some things in 1995 and...well, I may have failed to return them.”
Relationships: Rafael Barba/Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr.
Comments: 12
Kudos: 133





	The Library Fine

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by an offhand prompt from my darling Chelsea.
> 
> Usual disclaimer. Please be kind and tip your fanfic writers in the form of comments and/or kudos!

“So this is Harvard,” Sonny said for what had to have been the eighth time that hour, the same awe in his voice as the first time that he said it, and Rafael rolled his eyes fondly. 

“This is Harvard,” he affirmed, lacing his fingers with Sonny’s as they strolled down one of the many pavement paths crisscrossing the quad in front of Langdell Hall.

“Wow,” Sonny said, pausing and looking around. “And this is where you became Rafael Barba.”

Rafael raised an eyebrow. “I’m fairly certain I became Rafael Barba at birth, when my parents named me,” he said mildly, smirking when Sonny turned to scowl at him.

“You know what I mean,” Sonny huffed. “Where you went from Rafael Barba from the Bronx to Rafael Barba, attorney extraordinaire.”

Rafael snorted. “I’m not certain I ever became ‘Rafael Barba, attorney extraordinaire’.” He paused. “Except for maybe in your mind.”

Sonny didn’t rise to the bait. “So if this is where you became Rafael Barba, what was your Forlini’s back then?” he asked, his smiling widening as he looked at Rafael. “You wanna show me where you used to hang out, hit on cute guys desperate for your approval? Because you can’t tell me that much has changed since Harvard.”

Rafael barked a laugh. “My Forlini’s was the library,” he said dryly. “I know that this is clearly difficult for you to wrap your mind around, but I really wasn’t Rafael Barba, attorney extraordinaire. I was just a Cuban kid from the Bronx here on a scholarship and trying to keep my head above water.”

Sonny’s expression softened and he tugged Rafael to him and pressed a kiss to his temple. “And look at you now,” he said admiringly.

“Yes, look at me now,” Rafael said shortly, bitterness creeping into his voice. “A corporate sellout who threw away what had at one time been a promising career as an ADA.”

To his credit, Sonny’s expression didn’t so much as flicker at the heat from Rafael’s voice. Even more to his credit, he knew better than to talk about Rafael’s ADA career, focusing his attention elsewhere. “Hey, the gig at Rita’s firm is only temporary,” he said bracingly. “And besides, it sent us here.”

It had. When Rita Calhoun had swung by Rafael’s office at Swindel, Steele and Kahn to ask him to attend a conference being hosted at Harvard on behalf of the firm, Rafael had told her that the only way he would attend is if he could bring Sonny with him.

Well, the first thing he had told her was to stick the request where the sun didn’t shine, because old habits died hard.

But to his surprise, considering he hadn’t even been on the job for three weeks following the Iowa caucuses at that point, SSK had agreed to foot the bill, and now he and Sonny were strolling through Cambridge, looking at all the places Rafael hadn’t even thought about in decades. It was...nice, for lack of a better word, seeing it through Sonny’s eyes, even if he still had a truly and bizarrely inflated idea of what Rafael had been like existing in this environment.

And if Rafael was being honest, he liked showing off for Sonny, especially since he didn’t exactly have a lot of opportunity to do that anymore.

“Honestly, I’m surprised you were able to get the time off,” Rafael said, deliberately changing the subject, and Sonny shrugged.

“It helps that I didn’t take any time off during the holidays,” he said. “Besides, Hadid owes me one.”

Rafael scowled. “She owes you about fifty that this point.”

Sonny made a face but didn’t disagree, instead doing some deliberate subject changing of his own. “So if the library was your Forlini’s, why don’t you show it to me?” he asked brightly.

Rafael gestured vaguely at Langdell. “You’re looking at it,” he said.

“The  _ inside _ , Rafael,” Sonny said, rolling his eyes.

“Why?” Rafael asked, mostly just to be ass at this point. “I’d ask if you’d ever seen the inside of a library before, but given what you got on the Bar, I know the answer to that is probably no—”

Sonny poked him sharply in the fleshy part of his stomach and Rafael winced. “You said you wouldn’t joke about any test scores this week,” he reminded him. “Besides, I passed, and that’s the only thing that matters.” He took a step back and looked at Rafael expectantly. “So what do you say?”

“What do I say about what?” Rafael asked, a lazy smirk crossing his face.

“About showing me the fine library that may have taught you to be a lawyer but clearly didn’t teach you any matters,” Sonny said sourly.

Rafael rolled his eyes but obliging took Sonny’s hand again, starting toward the entrance, but then he thought better of it, stopping in his tracks so suddenly that Sonny left him there. “Raf?” Sonny asked, sounding concerned. “Something wrong?”

“No, just—” Rafael winced. “On second thought, let’s skip the library tour. I want to go to the campus store and buy you your weight in Harvard gear.”

But Sonny just frowned, resting his hands on his hips as he looked at Rafael. “Why don’t you want to show me the library?” he asked.

Rafael wet his lips, wondering how in the hell he was going to explain this one to his ex-cop boyfriend. “Well, at first I didn’t want to show you because I was being an asshole—”

“No shit,” Sonny muttered.

“And, perhaps more importantly, I remembered that I may have, um, borrowed a few things from the library.”

Sonny stared blankly at him. “It’s a library, Raf, isn’t that what you’re supposed to do in a library?”

Rafael cleared his throat. “I mean, I borrowed some things in 1995 and...well, I may have failed to return them.”

Sonny’s eyes widened. “You  _ stole _ them?” he practically yelped, and Rafael glared at him.

“Borrowed and forgot to return since I was a little caught up in taking the Bar,” he corrected in a hiss. “Not that you need to announce it to the entire campus. I’m fairly certain there’s some first year business students across the river who didn’t hear you.”

Sonny ignored him. “God, here I am thinking I’ve been dating an upstanding citizen and this entire time I’ve been dating a felon.”

“Sonny, you were at my trial for an actual felony,” Barba said exasperatedly. “This isn’t even a misdemeanor! Besides, they fined me the replacement fees for the books.”

“And did you pay it?” Sonny demanded.

Rafael winced. “Well, see, this is my first time back on campus in some time…”

He trailed off as Sonny’s scowl deepened. “C’mon,” Sonny said, grabbing Rafael’s hand and all but dragging him towards the entrance. 

“Where are we going?” Rafael protested, stumbling along after Sonny.

“You’re paying back what you owe,” Sonny said over his shoulder. “Every last penny.”

“Sonny—” Rafael started, breaking off at the nasty look Sonny threw him.

When they reached the entrance, Sonny grabbed the door and held it open for him. “Why do you care about a library fine anyway?” Rafael asked sourly as he went inside.

“As if you wouldn’t make me do the same thing if we were at Fordham and I owed a fine,” Sonny muttered. “Besides, after all we’ve been through, can you blame me for not wanting to let another Ivy League alum get away with a crime, no matter how petty?”

Rafael arched an eyebrow. “Bold of you to assume I would ever voluntarily set foot on Fordham’s campus,” he said, completely ignoring Sonny’s question, and Sonny rolled his eyes.

“Snob,” he said, but with obvious affection, and he kissed Rafael’s forehead before steering him in the direction of the circulation desk.

The librarian seated at the desk looked up as they approached. “Welcome to the Harvard Law Library,” she said in the bright but slightly hushed tones that Rafael remembered from his time there. “Are you visiting?”

Rafael glared at Sonny before looking back at the librarian. “Actually, I’m an alumnus,” he said. “And while we are here visiting, I was actually hoping to pay back an old fine that I believe I’ve neglected.”

The librarian laughed lightly. “You wouldn’t believe how often that happens. What’s your name, so I can pull up your account?”

“Barba,” Rafael told her. “Rafael Barba. Class of 1995, if that helps.”

“Certainly, Mr. Barba, let me just pull up your account,” the librarian said, and Rafael threw another nasty look at Sonny, who pointedly ignored him, instead looking through a brochure about the student resource center as if it was the most interesting thing he’d ever seen.

“Here it is,” the librarian said, though her expression fell as she clicked on something on her screen. “Ah. I see.” She glanced up at Rafael. “It appears we had to replace four books that you had borrowed.”

Sonny snorted and Rafael scowled at him before turning back to the librarian. “Yes, that’s correct,” he said.

She nodded. “Well, the thing is, Harvard has a policy of charging interest on unpaid fees,” she said, a little awkwardly, and Rafael’s stomach dropped.

“Interest?” he asked weakly. “Even after 25 years?” The librarian nodded and Rafael took a deep breath. “So how much do I owe?”

The librarian winced. “Forty-eight thousand, three hundred and forty-two dollars,” she said, and Rafael blanched. 

“Forty-eight  _ thousand _ ?” Sonny asked incredulously, finally looking up from the brochure.

“Well, see, interest is calculated at a standard—”

Rafael and Sonny both ignored her, turning to face each other. “What the hell am I supposed to do now?” Rafael hissed.

Sonny shrugged and sighed. “Only one thing to do,” he said. “Run.”

“What?” Rafael asked blankly, and Sonny grabbed his hand.

“Run.”

Before Rafael could ask another question, Sonny was again dragging him toward the entrance, both men breaking into a jog and then a sprint as the librarian called after them.

They burst through the doors and out onto the quad, Rafael unable to stop his laughter as they fled the library, tearing past undergrads studying out on the grass.

When they had gotten what Sonny clearly deemed a decent enough distance, they slowed to a walk. Rafael could barely breathe between laughing and being absurdly out of shape, and when Sonny collapsed to the ground in the shade of a massive oak tree, Rafael followed.

They lay there together for a long moment until their laughter subsided and their breathing returned to normal, and Rafael rolled onto his side to look at Sonny. “If they put out a warrant for our arrest, it’s your fault,” he informed him.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Sonny said dismissively, propping himself up on his elbows and grinning at Rafael, his dimples creasing his cheeks. “Hey, uh, you wanna make out on the quad like college kids?”

Rafael rolled his eyes. “Real mature,” he scoffed.

Sonny’s grin widened. “Is that a no?”

Rafael rolled his eyes again even as he reached out and pulled Sonny to him so that he could kiss that stupid smirk off his face.

* * *

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Rafael huffed, adjusting his tie as he followed Sonny through the New York County courthouse.

Sonny rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “Judge Cohen is a prominent Harvard alum who sits on the Board of Trustees,” he reminded Rafael. “Which means a good word from him will probably get those fines dismissed, meaning you may not have to drain your pension fund just to bail your ass out.”

Rafael barked a laugh. “Pension fund?” he repeated. “Boy, have you got a bad thing coming if you think an ADA is getting any kind of pension from the county.”

Sonny ignored him. “And besides, Judge Cohen is one of the few judges you haven’t gone out of your way to piss off in your time as an ADA, meaning he may actually still be willing to put in that good word for you.”

“I wouldn’t hold your breath,” Rafael warned him. “I’m uniquely capable of pissing off any judge in very few words.”

“I know,” Sonny said fondly. “It’s one of the many things I love about you.” He kissed Rafael’s forehead. “Good luck.”

Thirty minutes later, Rafael made his way out of Judge Cohen’s chambers, and Sonny brightened. “Liv, I gotta go,” he said, hanging up his cellphone and standing up as Rafael approached. “How’d it go?”

Rafael made a face. “Can’t believe I wasted one of my last favors on this,” he said mournfully. “But Judge Cohen made a few calls, and the fines are forgiven, save for the original replacement fees, which I will be paying back when I return to Harvard in a few weeks as a part of the judge’s foursome for the Harvard Alumni Golf Tournament.”

Sonny laughed. “You have to go  _ golfing _ ?” he practically chortled as they headed out. “You hate golfing.”

“Almost as much as I hate wasting a political favor on something like this,” Rafael muttered, squinting against the sunlight as they emerged from the courthouse.

“It’s not like you needed it for something else,” Sonny said bracingly as they made their way down the stairs at the front of the courthouse. “Besides, this way you’re absolved of any wrong-doing, and the Cambridge police probably won’t be putting out a warrant for your arrest.”

“Our arrest,” Rafael corrected, a little sourly. “Since when we were fleeing the scene of a crime, you were right there with me.”

“What can I say,” Sonny said, wrapping an arm around Rafael’s shoulders and pulling him close, turning to press a kiss to Rafael’s temple, “you’re worth the rap sheet.”

Rafael scowled up at him, but his expression softened when he saw the look on Sonny’s face. “Yeah,” he said instead, only a little begrudgingly. “I suppose you are, too.”


End file.
